Job Description

Position Overview

The Director of Corporate Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) serves as the senior authority responsible for designing, implementing, enforcing, and continuously improving NorthMark Strategies’ Environmental, Health, and Safety program for High-Performance Compute Center (HPCC) environments.

This role ensures EH&S programs are fully embedded across all phases of the site lifecycle—from active brownfield redevelopment and phased construction through steady-state, mission-critical HPCC operations. The Director reports directly to the VP of HPCC Operations and Infrastructure.

The role requires expert leadership in complex, high-risk environments where live high-performance compute operations coexist with ongoing construction activity. The Director will ensure uncompromising safety and regulatory compliance while enabling uninterrupted mission-critical performance.

Key Responsibilities

EH&S Program Ownership & Governance

• Own, enforce, and continuously improve the corporate EH&S program across all HPCC sites.

• Translate corporate EH&S policies into site-specific procedures aligned with corporate standards and third-party frameworks.

• Establish clear accountability for EH&S compliance across employees, visitors, contractors, service providers, and suppliers.

• Serve as the authoritative voice for EH&S across all site activities.

Construction & Operational Safety Integration

• Oversee safety in environments with concurrent construction phases and live operational zones.

• Develop and enforce protocols for shared access, logistics, and overlapping work areas to mitigate risk.

• Lead joint safety planning and risk assessments with construction managers, commissioning teams, and operations leadership.

• Ensure EH&S integration does not disrupt mission-critical compute operations.

Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and standards, including OSHA, NFPA (including NFPA 70E), EPA, DOT, and local AHJ requirements.

• Manage permitting, regulatory reporting, audits, inspections, and agency interactions.

• Establish and oversee incident reporting, investigation, root-cause analysis, and corrective-action programs.

• Define and manage incident escalation protocols across the organization.

Safety Culture & Continuous Improvement

• Drive a strong, proactive safety-first culture across all site personnel and partners.

• Oversee safety training programs, qualification requirements, toolbox talks, and awareness campaigns.

• Implement continuous improvement processes through audits, observations, and lessons-learned feedback loops.

• Track and report leading and lagging safety indicators, including near-miss reporting, audit closure rates, training completion, and incident frequency.

Emergency Preparedness & Leadership Reporting

• Lead development and enforcement of Emergency Response Plans (ERP), Crisis Management procedures, and EH&S-related Business Continuity Planning (BCP).

• Coordinate with Security, Operations, and Facilities teams to ensure unified emergency response capabilities.

• Provide regular reporting to senior leadership on EH&S performance, risks, compliance status, and improvement initiatives.

• Serve as the primary liaison to external regulators, auditors, and stakeholders on EH&S matters.

Success Metrics

• Zero serious safety incidents or regulatory violations.

• Demonstrated improvement in safety culture through leading indicators such as near-miss reporting, training engagement, and audit performance.

• Seamless EH&S integration across construction and operational phases without impacting mission-critical uptime.

• Recognition as the trusted EH&S authority across HPCC sites.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Occupational Safety, Industrial Engineering, or a related field.

• 10+ years of progressive EH&S leadership experience, including at least 5 years supporting mission-critical infrastructure, data centers, heavy industrial operations, or large-scale construction programs.

• Professional certifications strongly preferred (CSP, CIH, CHMM, PE, or equivalent).

• Deep working knowledge of OSHA standards, NFPA codes, EPA regulations, and EH&S best practices for mission-critical and industrial environments.

• Proven experience managing EH&S in complex, multi-phase construction environments co-located with live operations.

• Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills with the ability to influence all levels of the organization and external stakeholders.

• Demonstrated ability to balance strict regulatory compliance with pragmatic operational execution.

• Expertise in risk assessment, hazard analysis, and incident prevention.

• Decisive, resilient, and collaborative leader comfortable operating in high-pressure, high-stakes environments.

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